We had a quick breakfast then headed for the line to get tickets to the observation deck of the Petronas towers. We had to walk through the mall again which -even though it was technically "closed" this early- was like a bustling city all unto itself of people commuting to work:
And grabbing quick coffees and breakfast:
We read in our guidebook that the Petronas towers tours allow only a certain number of people up to the observation deck and bridge daily...and that sometimes (depending on the time of year, etc) tickets can be sold out by 10am. Luckily we got there early and secured ours...we even had a choice of times so opted for sunset tonight at 7pm.
We hopped in a taxi and headed to Batu Caves...it is limestone caves and houses one of the most sacred Hindu temples outside of India. We weren't quite sure what to expect so you can imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon this site of menacing pigeons (apparently Philadelphia isn't the only city with a pigeon problem) as well as these scavenger monkeys! Here they are fighting over what looks like a bag of birdseed...
It was early so we had it all to ourselves...well us and the monkeys anyway. This golden statue was enormous and looks down on all of KL:
We headed up the 272 steps to the limestone cave and temple above and along the way dipped and dodged away from the monkeys that were just waiting for some scraps of food to be tossed their way.
It was hot and extremely humid and a looooong way up this narrow staircase but we made it. This little guy was basking in the sun at the top, seemingly in an appropriate, meditative state:
We walked through the dark, dripping limestone caves and eventually came upon a few Hindu shrines...they were simple and weren't at all what we were expecting. We had to remove our shoes (which is commonplace throughout Asia as the soles of shoes are considered extremely dirty- maybe you're onto something Wes?) and of course a "donation" was expected. We were handed small wax candles that we were asked to light from a large candle and then a man asked for our names and said a prayer for us for good luck. He also placed ashes on our foreheads and tied red and golden bracelets on our right wrists.
At one point he handed us a banana which I think was supposed to be an offering to the Hindu god but Brian didn't immediately place it in his pocket as he was directed to and a slick little monkey came out of nowhere and tried to swipe it! After this the man abandoned his idea for us to give as an offering and instructed us to throw it to the savage monkeys instead! Heading back down you can see all of KL...too bad it is so hazy.
We made our way back down the stairs and the crowds had come out of nowhere. We saw a couple of Indian families carrying sickly looking infants up and wondered if they were bringing the children there for some kind of healing ritual...? This one woman in particular seemed to have some kind of offering for the temple on her head and she walked up the steps on her knees:
Brian had just commented this morning at how KL was so much more "sterile" than he anticipated Asia to be...Once at the bottom I said, "now do you feel like you're in Asia??" His answer was a laugh and a yes.
After that workout I was parched and that's when we conveniently came upon this guy chopping fresh cold young coconuts...he read my mind. This was exactly what I wanted.
There is nothing like coconut water straight from a coconut! See Jul- this is what I was telling you about :)
We saw this sign and then a man completely ignoring rule #2:
But he put out the food just in time for this nursing mother monkey and her really young baby to come down from the tree and grab some...so cute I had to take video:
We met a family from Australia who informed us that the public transportation line was right here so we decided to take the train to KL Central and Little India. It was way cheaper (2RM) than a cab (50RM) and very air conditioned which was a nice respite from the sweltering heat. Unfortunately I had to ditch my coconut before I finished to make sure I was in compliance with the many rules:
Malaysia really knows how to take the fun out of everything...no kissing in public, no animals on the train, no cutting fence with scissors and apparently no kites either?!
Not quite sure why (perhaps to appease the Muslim population of KL? or maybe just general safety/comfort of women?) but each train had several cars designated just for women:
We disembarked in Little India and Brian insisted we eat at this place...the restaurantwas packed with locals so I figured it had to be relatively safe. Our meals were served to us on large banana leaves and Brian could not wait to dig in!
I ordered a vegetarian platter which had an assortment of vegetables and a creamy and spicy lentil based sauce. I also ordered side of roti with cheese that I thought would be filled with paneer but instead it turned out to be closer to a melted kraft single...it was still good though ;) We noticed that all the locals were eating with their right hand and that no one had any napkins. Us Americans are so high maintenance. The staff had to actually wash some silverware to get us the spoon and fork we requested!
Little India was mostly stores to buy saris and tailoring shops. We went in a few stores and then found our way to the central market where we picked up some rambutans and marveled at the pink dragonfruit which would unfortunately just be too inconvenient to tote around.
The central market had tons of stalls where you could buy the most mundane trinkets or elaborate pieces of furniture. We weaved our way through the mall but it is hard to commit to carrying around any souvenirs so early in our trip.
We continued on to the art gallery to see Philadelphia's sister sign halfway around the world:
Inside the gallery they had this huge miniature version of the city handcrafted by some very detail oriented people complete with lights and trees and traffic patterns.
And here are the masterminds behind it all:
By this point it was after 3 pm and we were hot, drenched in sweat, feet throbbing and pretty much ready to go back to the hotel. We showered and did something that Brian rarely wants to do..."relax". But sitting for 20 minutes proved to be just too much and when a thunderstorm hit he set up his camera to hopefully capture some lightning on the towers...
We are looking forward to a nice traditional Malay dinner tonight after our tour of the observation deck at the Petronas towers. Hopefully this rain will let up before we have to venture back out!
Oh and check out Brian's photos here:
Brian's Malaysia gallery
- Posted from abroad using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
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